2:40 PM, February 23, 2013

Gov. Rick Snyder made an appearance at the Michigan Republican Convention at the Lansing Center today. Here, he was projected onto a big screen for the crowd of over 2,000 as he made comments during the convention. / Kristen M. Daum/Lansing State Journal

LANSING In a surprise appearance at the 2013 Michigan Republican Party convention, Gov. Rick Snyder urged his colleagues to stay unified and energized, especially as his party is poised to face major political challenges next year.

“Michigan is a target now,” Snyder said, specifically because of the right-to-work laws that the Legislature passed and Snyder signed in December, amid massive union protests at the Capitol.

“We are standing up for the hard-working people of Michigan, and we got the job done. We should be proud of that,” Snyder said to a crowd of 2,100 Republicans gathered at the Lansing Center.

Snyder defended his decision to support the laws, saying “it wasn’t” a tough decision, “because it was about workers’ rights.”

In 2014, all state and legislative offices will be on the ballot. Snyder hasn’t publicly declared his intention to seek a second term as governor, but political observers say it’s all but certain he will, especially given public remarks like his 7-minute address before the GOP faithful on Saturday.

“It’s time for us to stand up and say we’re reinventing Michigan,” Snyder said. “It’s time to sweep the ticket again in 2014.”

Snyder said Republicans stand apart from Michigan Democrats because they’re “working as a team” to advance their policy agendas, while Democrats – who were simultaneously gathering for a lively state convention in Detroit – are divided among themselves.

“Democrats are itching for a fight,” Snyder said. “They’re fighting with one another. It’s all negative. It’s not about Michigan’s future; it’s about how they can say bad things about each other or about us.”

“We’re not fighting. We’re not blaming. We’re just making Michigan a great state again,” Snyder said.

However, Republicans had their own contested race for chairman Saturday, which turned out to be tighter than most expected. Current GOP leader Bobby Schostak survived a challenge by Lapeer attorney Todd Courser. Schostak was elected to a second two-year term after earning the majority of delegates’ votes.

Courser ran on a platform of “liberty and constitutional conservatism,” emphasizing a desire to more aggressively reach out to voters and strengthen the party’s grassroots campaigning.

Courser said the 2012 elections yielded “disastrous results” for Republicans, since Democrats’ won voters’ favor for president and in Michigan’s U.S. Senate race. In contrast, Schostak emphasized the party’s victories in November: success in U.S. and state House races and the defeat of several ballot proposals.

Schostak had the support of Snyder and several party leaders who advocated for right-to-work’s passage, including state Rep. Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake, who represents a portion of Eaton County.

Snyder’s appearance at the convention was unexpected, because he wasn’t listed as among the party dignitaries who’d planned to attend.